Research by the Evening Post reveals that although women make up nearly one third of the force they receive just one in 10 police commendations, sparking concerns that their efforts are being overlooked.

Statistics also show uniformed women are still under-represented in the Thames Valley force, making up less than one third of all special constables and just 17.8 per cent of PCs.

She said: "The organisation has had an attack of complacency, believing that three women chief constables and 15 assistant chief constables indicates that women can achieve - so things must be OK."

But she said the disproportionate number of awards to women was due to behavioural differences, and not sexism.

She added: "We do not often see a woman hanging off a large bridge, probably because men say they want to do it. We see men doing this type of macho, brave thing but this may be because women are a bit more concerned about the consequences, yet they do some really wonderful work."

During a recent conference ACC Spence called for the police to take account of behavioural differences between men and women when considering commendations.

She said: "We must not expect women to be like men. They talk, prioritise, make decisions, interact and make judgements differently.

"Women share experiences and many are relieved as they realise the problems they are enduring are because they think and act differently and their dilemmas with the male-created environment, in which they operate, are quite normal and shared by others."

At the launch of the Gender Agenda, a report that highlights the main difficulties facing female staff in the police force, ACC Spence also called for easier access to part-time work and a move to health screening rather than old fashioned fitness tests.

She said: "The police service often falls into the ‘we've always done it this way' trap but we need to think again.

"By taking a long, hard look at working

practices and making the necessary changes they will benefit all - women, men, police officers and civilian support staff."

A spokesman for the force said it recognised men received proportionately more commendations than women but said it was ‘glad' to discuss the issue.

He said: "There are issues that the force needs to address, but to say we are sexist is taking it too far. The organisation recognises that some things are wrong and needs changing but this is what Gender Agenda aims to tackle.

"It takes time to change and the force is very different compared to 40 or 50 years ago and guidelines are in place to overcome sexism, racism and ageism."